Former Governor Jerry Brown seems to be taking a calculated risk. That his fame is great enough to overcome being significantly outspent by his rival in the Democratic primary for attorney general, L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. In the last reporting period, Brown was outspent six to one. The gamble looks set to pay off, as the Oakland mayor entered the stretch drive of the campaign with a huge 60% to 27% lead in the new L.A. Times poll.
Delgadillo reports spending $2.7 million on TV advertising; Brown a little less than $400,000 on cable. Yet the two-time runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination has the commanding lead and $4.4 million cash on hand in the latest report.
“I’m frugal,” Brown said of his approach earlier in the month. Republicans seem disappointed. “We had hoped he would be forced to spend most of his money in the primary,” says one Republican strategist who worries that the party’s presumptive nominee, Central Valley state Senator Chuck Poochigian, is off to a slow start.
Poochigian has raised money. He had over $3.2 million as of May 20th, and has added another $100,000 since then.
The veteran senator is an articulate and impressive legislator who authored workers compensation reform legislation for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also has good campaign help, in former Ronald Reagan advisor Ken Khachigian and consultant Kevin Spillane. He is known by less than 10 percent of the voters, according to polls, and currently trails Brown two to one (his larger support level due to his identification as the Republican candidate). Yet he has a chance against Brown, who is famed for his opposition to the death penalty (which Brown pledges to enforce), and whose mercurial career provides many colorful quotes.
But aside from a little burst of publicity here and there — as on the controversy surrounding the Rob Reiner-led California Children and Families Commission — Poochigian hasn’t done much yet to try to penetrate the public consciousness.
Delgadillo certainly has. His campaign has been one of the most aggressive in a new and not especially welcome phenomenon: The relentlessly barbed e-mail press release. Delgadillo’s campaign ranks with the constantly bickering campaigns of Democratic gubernatorial candidates Phil Angelides and Steve Westly in that department.
Delgadillo did well in gaining what seemed at first a surprising number of endorsements, such as the California Teachers Association and a host of labor groups, including an endorsement from the California Labor Federation, which also endorsed Brown. But having been a political lightning rod since the 1970s, Jerry Brown also has plenty of enemies. As Oakland’s mayor and a champion of charter schools, he ran afoul of the teacher’s union and some other public employee groups. And Delgadillo is an impressive younger politician who, even in defeat, would remain one of L.A.’s top elected officials and one of the most prominent Latino politicians in California.
In the end, however, Brown scored key endorsements, including the three largest newspapers in Delgadillo’s home base of Los Angeles.
Delgadillo has been aggressive in going after his opponent for the recent rise in Oakland’s murder rate on Brown’s watch. While most violent crimes are down during Brown’s tenure, it’s been embarrassing for the mayor to see the bodies piling up this year while he’s been running for state attorney general.
Other Delgadillo plays, such as attempting to paint Brown as anti-choice on abortion because of a musing comment in the 1980s and the former governor’s urging clemency for an imprisoned anti-abortion protester at the request of Mother Teresa, were less successful. And Delgadillo had his own problems, the latest being a Los Angeles Times story on inflated athletic claims.
Brown has campaigned around the state and he and Delgadillo tangled in four debates, the last of them at the California Democratic Party convention in late April (real time blogged here). Since then, aside from a little sparring in the media, Brown has pulled it down, focusing on his job as mayor of the gritty city on the other side of the Bay, letting the two little-known statewide officials who seek to follow him as governor dominate the scene for now by blasting away at each other in their primary battle.
Beginning in 1950, when Brown’s late father, then San Francisco District Attorney Pat Brown, won the Democratic nomination for state attorney general, members of the Brown family — Pat, Jerry, and sister Kathleen — have won 13 California Democratic primaries. Putting very little money down, Brown is making a large bet that another one is on the way.
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It is scorth time for me. The new changes to the workmans comp system are saving money by stalling medical treatment to injured workers. Yes, it has saved my families small business big bucks in insurance premiums and at the same time cost My FIREFIGHTER FAIR MEDICAL TREATMENT! I am caught in the middle between the two. When it comes to medical coverage, not providing it…is a sin. YES,I SUPPORT BROWM!!!!!
The Tsakopoulos children are contributing to Poochigian. “Wait, aren’t they great Democrats?” lol
Elect Jerry Brown! That is reason enough there.
The Tsakopoulos kids are not only trying to buy the Justice dept for Dad they are also up to securing political power for huge land grab in Placer county for Dad too. There is a very disturbing article in theSac Bee this morning. It details Angelo’s son’s attempts thru an IE and campaign contributions from his father’s business partners around the country to defeat a moderate REp for a more conservative REp . Why Because it is good for business and what is good for Angelo’s business is good for California! This is a brazen attempt to make a land grab in Placer county. This is serious. This is intimidating. This is who this family is, and they are handpicking the next Dem candidate….how do you Democrats feel about this great Dem picking a more conservative Rep candidate to fund over the moderate Rep ?…Kaufman thinks everyone wants to talk about immigration and gas prices..NO I want to talk about Angelo and his hold on Angelides !!!!…
Ann’s information is right, but a little off. Poochigian just received money from three members of the Tsakopoulos family, but not all children. Two Tsakopoulos children. And one Mrs. Angelo Tsakopoulos.
However, before people get carried away, I believe that there is previous Tsakopoulos financial support for Jerry Brown. Which would be consistent with him being a good Democrat.
Barbara & Ann,
I swear you two are the gem in NWN crown! Keep me informed! I want to hear every word! Everyone listening,if you haven’t voted….MAKE HASTE !!!
You know this is not about who is the better Dem at this point…they are similar enough in policy that Democrats should and could have felt comfortable with whoever wins …but not now …not with this Corrupt IE of a family making a power play for this great state of ours…They will “own” Angelides. This is our state, it does not just belong to the Tsakopoulos family to develop …to plunder , to become even richer from …this state has seen many fierce battles over land and water rights…these fights are not over …If Angelides becomes GUV, the enemy of so much of what we love about California, our land and our waters, will have the upperhand in these fights.
Okay, moving back to the topic of Jerry Brown …
He is a legend, a quirky legend, but a legend, let’s elect him.
I think that Poochigian is running for the purpose of keeping his name front and center for future use should he find another statewide or congressional office for which to run. He is a smart man and surely must know the futility of running against Brown. People with a higher view of their own importance, like Dunn, begged off this race. For as many republicans that I know who love the man, Poochigian might have had trouble against him in a GOP primary. I am looking forward to having another AG who hasn’t come from the ranks of county prosecutors.
Governor Pat was a county prosecutor. Into that bipartisan thing, too, elected state attorney general with the backing of his friend, Republican Governor Earl Warren. I believe I have a picture around in a book of Jerry Brown duck hunting with Pat Brown and Earl Warren.
I met him way back in the 80′s, when I was still an undergrad. I was volunteering for this big DNC meeting in DC. While sititing with some friends in the lobby of the hotel, this guy with a full, heavy-volumed beard sits down next to us. I looked at three times before realizing it was Jerry Brown.
I went over to meet him, and he asked me to sit down. For a few minutes he asked about school and what I was reading and he made some comments about this book and that book, very thoughtful, very sincere, and I just nodded a lot until someone else recognized him and he went off to one of the meetings.
My friends then came over and asked, “What did he say to you?”
“I’m not even sure,” I said, totally star-struck. “But he sure knows a lot about the books in my political philosophy course.”
Mr. Bradley! I was sitting by my pool reading the WSJ “weekend journal” (which is actually getting better and better every week, it has a great review of the X-men film !) and it has an article about summer programs and how they are not just reruns anymore we have new programs thanks to cable …and then I came across an item that made me think of YOU immediately! On July Showtime is going to air an IRISH “Sopranos” set in Providence R.I. with mobsters and politicians!!!..I am so excited because even though I am Scottish, I love Irish men…if you have not deleted me yet …here is my Jerry Brown tie-in…he is an Irish -American and he is a man …so of course I love him…now I have a Jerry Brown story too…when I was roaming around the Dem State Convention last month …Jerry Brown needed a cell phone to call someone so I gave him mine…but I was not star- struck…just helpful and sweet like I often am…
P.S. Mr. Bradley, What are the rest of the press saying and doing about Mr. T. and Phil ….anything?
I forgot the most important info…it is called “The Brotherhood”and it starts July 9th!
Great book on the subject of the Irish mob and politics “Black Mass” covers the relation between Whitey Bulger, member of the FBI 10 most wanted club, known mass murderer and Boston mob boss. And his brother Billy Bulger, president of the Massachusetts state senate at the same time. Written by the Boston Globe writers who covered the tale.
The LA Times had an article about their poll on the front page today, and it did get into how badly Jerry is beating Rocky as the article progressed. Delgadillo for Mayor of LA in 5 years? We’ll see.
The LA Times also has a piece about Tsakopoulos’s extremely quesitonable background on environmental issues and how he tries to buy influence in public office. Buying influence? Wow that’s the first I’ve heard of that about him. And the ever-present “no comment” about the infamous IE just so happened to make its way into the article as well.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-angelo28may28,1,4350683.story?coll=la-headlines-california
Although I’m glad to see the major papers finally exploring Angelo’s highly questionable background and influence peddling, I’ve grown tired of Finnegan’s “gotcha” articles; it seems like those are the only ones the LA Times knows how to write right around now. It makes me more and more appreciative of your reporting Mr. Bradley.
Mr. Bradley, I know that you don’t always like having to respond to personal questions about information, but I have been wondering about the ubiquitous articles about both candidates and the steering of pension funds or whatever for campaign contributions. It seems like in all of the aritcles you could remove one of the candidate’s names, insert the other, change the name of the board or the organization involved, and you have the same article about the other guy. The only difference is it seems like more campaign cash is flowing Angelides’s way. But we don’t see that kind of stuff on the blog here, and so I was wondering how much credence do you give to this stuff? Do you just not like covering that kind of reporting, is it not as huge of a problem as the Times makes it out to be, or is that the type of reporting for papers with larger research staffs.
I’m just curious, and so if you can answer that would be great. However, I don’t care to hear a rehashing of numbers and everything else “spin” from Angelides’s fake handles. I guess I can always hope.
I don’t reproduce what other people are doing. Angelides raises more money in this way, obviously, but both candidates have done it.
It’s a commonplace in politics, easy to report.
The “no comment” you refer to in the LA Times story is not from Tsakopoulos himself. The Times does not have private phone numbers for him. It was from his lawyer Ben Davidian.
Rocky Delgadillo for Mayor?
Maybe Fabian Nunez for Mayor.
Thank you, good to hear your take. And thanks for the clarification about the ‘no comment.’ I guess I just associate that duck as associated with the whole IE and have stopped paying attention to which conduit is spouting it at any particular moment. Why the hell won’t they answer any questions? If there wasn’t something to hide it would be in their best interests to do so – it gives me the creeps.
Let’s keep this on Jerry Brown, by the way, especially if you have questions for me on this Memorial Day Weekend.
Can I ask a question…how can, if its even possible, Rocky actually beat Brown. With those poll numbers (course, I don’t have the crosstabs in front of my), it seems really tough to do…
I think the only response would be that it is not possible.
Rocky has a decent political future, and this won’t hold him down. I think he could parlay this into City Council, even Board of Supervisors when Gloria Molina’s term ends in 2010. But not statewide office, not in the next few years.
I CAN SPELL Brown…B R O W N…vote for BROWN!
I count 11 California Democratic primary victories for the Brown family:
- Pat in 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, and 1966
- Jerry in 1970, 1974, 1978, and 1982
- Kathleen in 1990 and 1994
My guess is the other two are Pat’s favorite son candidacies for the presidency.
Jerry Brown ran for President, too.
Yeah, he did in 1992 when Clinton won…
Ya know, I think he did more harm than good in that race but, like Madonna in a mid-life crisis, the guy reinvents himself as the Mayor of Oakland, arguably one of the most troubled cities in California and one with the most potential.